Nocturne
by lets-go-home
Summary: When Phil was walking home from the late shift, he is attacked. When he finds himself waking up in a coffin, 6 feet underground, he knows something very weird happened to him. What had he become? How would he tell Dan? (Aka the fic where Phil gets turned into a vampire and avoids the truth)
1. Nocturne

A/N: Guess what, it's named after another Paralysed Age song because I'm still trash. (Again, here's the link: watch?v=4L1Ze9e9Xc8) Anyway, this is basically a prequel of Bloodsucker, focusing on Phil getting turned and how he chose to deal with it. Even though it is technically is a prequel, it can totally stand alone.

Phil doesn't normally work the late shift. But this time there was no one else to fill in. He had to do it. Even though he definitely didn't want to be here, working this terrible job, here he was. This is what his English degree got him. It got him here. Whatever, the shift was almost over. He can almost go home. He would still get to skype dan and he would still be able to complain to him about his job, and he would still get to say that he loves him.

His shift ended and he rushed out of the building. As he stepped out into the chilly december air, he realized that his bus had come long ago. It was too late to call any of his friends to give him a ride as well. They were probably all asleep by now. The only option was to walk home. He sighed, pulled his scarf tighter, and set off.

He was almost glad for the walk. The night sky was actually very pretty tonight. He's never out that late due to always skyping Dan, so he doesn't really get to appreciate it that often. The air was too cold though, and there was an even colder wind that came and went. The puffs of breath in front of him a visual representation of how damn cold he was, but there was nothing he could do to change it. All he could do about the cold was zip his jacket up and keep walking.

It was as he was walking, cursing to himself about the cold, that he felt a hand grab his arm and yank him to the side, into an alley. He struggled against the grip, but he couldn't break free. Instead, his struggles combined with the stranger trying to pull him caused Phil to fall. He hit the ground with a thud, his head cracking on the ground. Because of his daze from the impact, the man was able to pull him up by his collar and pin him against the wall. Still groggy, he tried to struggle against the man, but it was no use. He had him stuck there, the attacker's face inches from his. Even though Phil knew he was trapped, he still tried to get away.

"Oh I just love how you all still struggle, even if you know how utterly hopeless it is." The attacker said, seemingly amused. It was then that Phil noticed just how little effort it took the man to keep him pinned.

"Please… Don't do this" Phil pleaded, letting a tear fall, knowing his demise was imminent now.

"Oh, there's the pleading as well. Why do you all think that will work? You think that if you ask nice enough that it'll stop."It seemed like he was talking more to himself than to Phil. Phil didn't fully understand what the man meant by 'you all' but what he did understand was that he was about to die.

"Well no more small talk I guess." He said, his face morphing. It changed into something hideous. It had terrible yellow eyes and its skin was folded and morphed. The most prominent thing on its face, however, was the fangs. It had long, extremely sharp fangs. Phil had watched enough Buffy to understand what was going on now. He writhed away, trying to get away from the vampire (because what else could that thing be?). He knew it was no use, but he was acting purely on instincts now, no more rational thought left.

The vampire must have been getting impatient. He didn't even make some kind of quip about how Phil was still struggling. Instead, he just sunk his fangs into Phil's neck. Phil cried out in pain, only to have his mouth covered by the vampire's cold hand. Phil began sinking into a dizziness and his body went cold. He continued to struggle as much as he could with his ever decreasing strength. He could feel his life draining, and as a last resort he bit the man's hand that covered his mouth, too out of it to think of the consequences. Even that didn't do enough though, as all the vampire did was remove his hand from Phil's mouth. He had lost too much blood had too little strength, to yell. The last thought in his mind was of how Dan would be with him gone before everything went black.

Phil was not expecting to wake up. Especially not in a coffin. He tried to lift the top, but he couldn't. It seemed to be sealed shut by something, but he didn't know what. He tried banging and kicking on it, but that didn't work either. He started to yell.

"Help! I'm trapped in here!" He waited for a response, but none came. He had to get out of there. It was too small, too close to him. Surely he would run out of oxygen soon. He started to panic, to kick the top harder. Eventually, his foot broke through the wood and dirt began to fall on him. Had he actually been buried alive? How could that happen? Did no one realize he was still alive? He had heard about it happening before, but he never thought it could happen to him. It seemed the only way he was going to survive was to dig himself out. He started moving dirt to the edges of the coffin and once he had thought he had enough, he made the hole in the coffin bigger and stood up, the still loose dirt giving way. This may be the only time reading all of those random articles online will help him in any situation.

When Phil broke to the surface and pulled himself up, he looked around. He was surprised to see that he recognized his surroundings, as he was in the cemetery not far from his parent's home. _Why would I be back in Lancashire?_ He asked himself. Still reeling from the fact that he was buried alive, but apparently now he figured it was his own parents that had buried him. How could they not realize he was still alive? Were his parents grieving? How would they react if they knew they had buried him when he wasn't dead? Oh god, he couldn't imagine his parents grieving over him.

Phil decided that it would probably be best to tell his parents that he was not actually dead and they had no reason to grieve. He just had to find his old house from here, which wouldn't exactly be an easy task. He didn't exactly remember which direction it was in. He sighed, took a guess, and started walking. As Phil walked, the brisk night reminded him of what had happened before he woke up here. He shuddered, remembering the pain. How long ago had that been? How long had he been buried? And what was that thing that had almost killed him?

He dwelled on those questions until, surprisingly, he saw a familiar house in the distance. _Wow_ , he thought. _I was actually right about the direction._ He quickened his pace, but just as soon as he sped up, a realization made him slow again. How would he do this? Would he just knock on the door and be like 'Hey mum, I'm not actually dead.' He couldn't do that, his mum would have a heart attack. But he supposed he didn't have much of another choice. He wanted to do this as soon as possible, as to not make them any more sad. He didn't want to wait around trying to come up with something clever to say. He choked down a stab of fear that he couldn't quite pin the reason for and resumed walking to his childhood home.

He knocked on the door, nervous as to how his mum would react. He didn't have to imagine it long as she quickly opened the door, looking like she had been crying recently.

"Hell- Phil?" She said, her eyes widening, skin going pale. She looked as if she had seen a ghost. Well, in her case she probably thought she had. Phil gave her a small, almost apologetic smile.

"Hey mum..." He started. He didn't have a plan. He didn't know how to do this.

"How are you here? Are you a ghost?" It was plain to see she was terrified. She understood the situation about as much as Phil did. They both previously thought he had died in that alley, yet here he was. On his mum's doorstep.

"I'm not a ghost, mum. I'm alive."

"But- But we buried you! You were dead! We saw your lifeless body on the examining table. They said you had been exsanguinated, Phil. No one just comes back from that!" Exsanguinated? Surely that wasn't true. How would he be alive if he had been drained of all of his blood?

"Maybe they just got it wrong. I'm sure there's some kind of explanation to it." There seemed to be something click in her mind as her eyes widened once more.

"Oh god… If you're here… That means we buried you alive. Oh god Phil I'm so sorry. You must have been so scared."

"Yeah that's a bit of an understatement." He laughed awkwardly. "But I don't blame you. I had thought I was dead too. I definitely didn't expect to wake up from that."

"What exactly happened? All the detectives would tell me was that they found you in an alley and that they suspected an animal attack."

"Animal attack?" Why would they think it was an animal attack? Phil knew the circumstances of his attack was weird, but how could they mistake it for an animal attack of all things?

"Let's just go inside and we can sort this all out." Phil nodded. He really didn't want to be outside at night any longer than necessary. They walked inside and Phil sat down on the old couch while his mum sat in a chair across from him. "Okay, so how exactly did this happen?"

Phil recounted the events as his mum flinched at every gruesome detail. She didn't want to hear this, but she needed to know. She needed to understand what had happened. As he told her about the pain in his neck and the man's appearance, his mum gave him a puzzled expression.

"What is it?"

"Well… You said that he had fangs, right? And the pain in your neck… You don't think… Oh god I don't even want to imagine that possibility."

"What possibility?" As he said that, he realized what she meant. She meant that Phil's attacker had been a vampire. He didn't mention in his recounting that at the time he had thought the same thing. But, she seemed to have come to the same conclusion on her own. Phil sighed, not wanting to think about it either.

"To be honest, I thought the same thing while it was happening... But that's not possible, right? They don't exist. Maybe it was just some weirdo who gets off on acting like a vampire, got his teeth sharpened and happened to nick the vein with them, making me lose a lot of blood and pass out. That could be it, right?" He knew that the notion was a long shot, and he could tell his mum did as well by the look on her face.

"Okay. So maybe this is real. And this did happen. But don't you have to drink their blood to become one? Isn't that some vampire rule? You didn't do that, did you?" Phil tried to think back to that night. Most of it was hazy, his mind unclear from the blood loss. He did have a vague memory of doing something as a last ditch effort to get away though, and the more he thought about it, the more scared he got. When the memory finally returned to him, he gasped.

"I think… I think I might have… Oh god, mum I bit his arm to try to get away. I must have gotten some blood in my mouth. I wasn't thinking- I couldn't think straight. I had lost too much blood already and I bit his arm, thinking that maybe he'd let me go. I was too out of it to realize what it would do to me." This was real. This was _actually_ real. Phil wasn't actually alive. He had died, and his parents buried him. He should have stayed there, underground. But because of stupid human instincts, here he was. In his mum's house, close to tears at the realization that he had become one of these monsters.

"Maybe the guy wasn't actually a vampire. Maybe you were right." Phil's mom was the one that had presented the idea, but now that she knew her son was one of them, she was backing away from the truth of her previous statement. She was just as scared as Phil was.

"No. Think about it. This has to be it. The mortician said I'd been exsanguinated, right? And the detectives tried to write it off as an animal attack. Not to mention I was literally dead for a bit before waking up in a coffin. There's nothing else it could be. It's the truth, but it's okay. We'll figure this out. It'll be okay." Phil's mum sighed, running a shaky hand through her hair.

"This isn't happening. This _can't_ be happening."

"It is, mum. And there's not really much we can do to change it." His mum sighed again.

"Right. Yeah, we can't avoid this. Um… I'll help you get through this. I am your mum after all, it's my job to do that."

"Thanks. I know how hard it is for you to say that. I'm having a hard time believing it myself, but what else could have happened? Do you mind if I stay here while I figure this all out?"

"Yeah, sure. Stay as long as you like… I still can't believe this is real."

"I can't either."

He spent that night in his old room. He didn't sleep though. He didn't even know if vampires can sleep. Whether he could sleep or not, he was much too scared too. He was scared of what he had become, what he would do. If he was a vampire, did he have to kill people too? He guessed he did, considering what happened to him. He thought about this for a while before letting his thoughts drift to Dan. He was avoiding letting himself think of him. He didn't know what he would do. Would he tell him? Did he even know that Phil had died? He imagined his parents had told him, but maybe they didn't. How would he react if he knew? The rest of the night, he thought of Dan and nothing else. This is why he didn't let himself think about him before. He knew once he started he wouldn't stop thinking about him and what would happen when he went back to talking to him. He couldn't talk to him yet, though. Not until he was sure of what he could do. Not until he was sure that he wouldn't hurt him.

The next morning, he asked his mum about Dan. She said that they hadn't told him yet. They just weren't emotionally ready to tell anyone. _Dan didn't know._ Dan didn't know that Phil died. He didn't know Phil had come back. He didn't know that anything was different. He still couldn't bring himself to message him though. He didn't want to start talking to him, only to realize he'd have to leave him for good because of what he might do.

It came slowly. Starting as a slight tickle in the back of his throat. By the time the night came, it was an unbearable burning. Like you hadn't drank water for weeks. Phil had tried to drink water, to vanquish the fire in his throat. Nothing helped. He knew what it needed, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Over the next few days it grew worse. It became excruciating. He had even been beginning to have thoughts about how easy it would be to kill his mum. His _own mother_! He had to do something about it. And it had to be tonight.

After his mum went to sleep, he snuck out of the house and into the night air. Tonight was very much like the one of the attack. Pretty stars, clear sky. A wind blowing, though he couldn't feel the chill. It was weird to him, not being able to feel the cold. There wouldn't be any puffs of air in front of him either, as he didn't even breathe anymore. He never thought he'd miss the cold, but he did. Now that he can't feel it, he misses it. He sighed and ignored his wandering mind. He started to walk, scanning for anyone on their own in the night.

Phil's eyes locked on to someone. A man, seemingly coming from work, just like Phil had been that night. Any remorse he would have had was gone as instincts kicked in. He walked behind the man for some distance, then got closer. The man looked back and noticed him, picking up his pace. Phil picked up his is return. Realizing he was being followed, the man started to run. Phil found, however, that he was faster. He ran and tackled the man, pinning him to the ground. He also found that he was much stronger. He kept the struggling, horrified man down with little effort. It was then that Phil realized just how hungry he was. He skipped any kind of talking or taunting to the man that most vampires seem to do and just went for the kill. All the man got out was one small "Please" before his body went limp.

Phil quickly got up and ran from the body. He couldn't believe he had done that. He was scared, sure, but of being caught, not of what he had just done. Mostly though, he was invigorated. He had actually taken the life of a person. He felt weird; like he should have felt bad about this, but he doesn't. It was what he had to do to survive, so what was so wrong with that? Maybe he _should_ feel bad. Phil brushed that thought off, though. He was a vampire after all, what else did people expect of him? After all, he certainly felt better after it. The burning in his throat was completely gone.

Phil stayed with his mom for a few more days. He found that if he fed when the burning in his throat came, he didn't have any thoughts about killing until it came again. After a few times, he was confident that he could talk to Dan without any potential risk. After all, nothing had happened to his mum yet, so it should be fine. He got out his computer- it was with him when he was attacked and his mum was given all of his belongings that were at the scene- and opened skype. He saw Dan was online and typed him a quick message, apologizing for not getting to talk to him and blaming it on his crazy uni schedule. Dan replied almost immediately, saying that it was alright and moving on to how bored he was when Phil was gone.

After that they went back to talking like they did before Phil had gone. They messaged and Skyped every day. Phil smiled and laughed with him, but when he thought Dan wasn't looking his smile dropped. He was almost sure that Dan had noticed this, but he didn't say anything about it. Phil was glad that even though he may have noticed it, Dan never decided to bring it up. He felt almost guilty for not telling Dan. He wanted to tell him, but this had all been going so well and he didn't want it to end. He worried that if Dan knew, he would leave. Scratch worried, he was sure he'd leave. It wasn't exactly hard to move on when your boyfriend is a murdering supernatural creature. Sure, not telling Dan just so he would still date him was selfish, but Phil didn't care. He just wanted Dan to stay with him. And if lying to him about nothing happening to him when "uni got crazy" was what he needed to do, then that's what he would do. Besides, how would he even go about telling Dan? There was no way he could find a way to tell him without him freaking out.

Time passed and they moved in together. Phil's time staying at his mum's house and his university dorm had taught him how to sneak out effectively. In fact, Dan didn't seem to notice anything. He didn't notice that Phil didn't breathe, and his heart didn't beat, or that he tended to avoid going out during the day at all costs. Phil had learned how to deal with his condition, and he was happy. He learned how to balance it and Dan at the same time, with Dan none the wiser. Dan still saw him as the happy, innocent person that he was before that night in the alley.

Maybe he would never have to tell him. Maybe he could live out his whole life never knowing what Phil really was. No, that was completely unrealistic. Dan would grow old and Phil wouldn't. Eventually Dan would get curious. He would have to tell him. He would tell him at some point. He didn't know when, or how, but it would happen. But for right now, Dan didn't need to know.


	2. Daylight Came and Burned My Neighbour

"Hey, do you want to come with me to go get some groceries?" Dan already knew the answer. Phil didn't really go many places with him during the day. He would always just stay home, making up excuses like editing or needing to do other various unimportant things.

"Nah, I'll just stay here and edit the gaming video." Dan sighed. He didn't know why he still hoped that Phil would come, it's not like his track record was very good. All Dan wanted to know was why. Why wouldn't Phil go with him places?

Was Phil embarrassed to be seen with him? That couldn't be the case, right? They did appear in countless videos together, both showing equally embarrassing parts of themselves. So what reason would Phil have to not want to be around him in public? Why couldn't he do so much as go to the store with him? What was his _deal_? Maybe he'd confront him about all of this after he'd gone to the supermarket.

As Dan got back home, he made a decision. He was going to talk to Phil, and he was going to do it now. He put up the groceries, then walked to where Phil was sat. He was in the same spot as he was when Dan left, on the couch in the lounge. Dan sat next to him, gathering up the courage to confront him. He'd have to be prepared for any possible answer Phil would give him.

"Hey, Phil. I have a uh, a bit of a serious question for you." Phil's blood ran cold. Well, if it could it would. He always had this reaction anytime Dan said something like this. His mind immediately jumps to Dan somehow having figured out that he's not human. He never knew how he would have found out, but that's still his first thought.

"What is it?"

"Well, uh… It's just that…" Dan was getting really nervous now. He felt like the answer wasn't going to be one he wanted to hear. "Why don't you go anywhere with me? Like ever?"

"What do you mean?" Phil knew exactly what he meant. Because Phil couldn't go out in the sun, it meant that he couldn't go out with Dan. Not to the shop, not to on a date, not anywhere. So long as the sun shined, he was trapped in the house.

"I mean, sure we go out occasionally. But when we do it's at night. Where there are no people around. Are you… embarrassed to be seen with me?"

"Of course I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you!"

"Then why else would you never go out anywhere with me?"

"It's not specifically with you. I just don't go out. I hate going out, is all." Phil didn't really know how to handle this situation. It's not like he's had to do this before. The only other person he's lived with after turning was his mum, and she knew why he never left. He couldn't tell Dan, not now. He wouldn't even believe him anyway.

"Yeah, sure. You seem just fine leaving at night. When no one is around to see us together." Dan was livid now. Phil could have just told him yes. That would have been less painful than him making up these excuses.

"It's just- It's different, okay?"

"And how is it different, exactly?"

"I can't explain it… I just need you to trust me on this."

"Whatever. You don't actually love me. It's fine."

"Where the hell did you get that I don't love you?" Phil looked at Dan, incredulous. How could Dan _possibly_ think he didn't love him?

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you never want to go anywhere with me and on the off chance you do you look extremely uncomfortable the entire time. Not to mention that you're constantly leaving the bed at all times of the night. Don't think I didn't notice that."

"Okay, first off, it's just crazy to think that I don't love you because of me not liking to go out during the day. Second, I just have a hard time sleeping. I don't want to wake you up so I just get out of bed." That wasn't technically a lie. Phil couldn't actually sleep, even if he wanted to. A lot of the time he left the bed he was just scrolling through tumblr, not even killing people.

"Sure. Sleeping problem. Totally." Phil sighed. He didn't know how to explain himself without telling Dan what he was. No matter how much it hurt them, he couldn't tell Dan. It would just end up hurting them even more. Besides, Dan wouldn't even believe him if he did tell him right now. He'd just write it off as another one of Phil's excuses.

"I have a reason I just- I can't-"

"Whatever." Dan cut him off before storming into his room, locking the door. Phil sighed once again. He wasn't sure how he'd get out of this one, or if he even could. Maybe once Dan cooled down Phil would have a reasonable explanation. Yeah, he'd have to come up with one, but it seemed he had time, judging by how angry Dan was. He just hoped they could figure out a way to get through this. He didn't know what he'd do if this relationship fell through. Sometimes he felt like Dan was the only thing keeping him grounded. The only thing keeping him sane. And if he was without that… Well, Phil imagined it wouldn't be pretty.

No, they'd _have_ to figure things out. Not only for Phil's sake, but everyone he came into contact with. He didn't like to imagine what would happen, but that didn't stop it from coming to the forefront of his mind from time to time. Well, time to time was a bit of an understatement, as he entertained the thought alarmingly often. He even knew exactly how it would go if it did happen.

First, Dan would likely be the first to suffer. Mostly just because of proximity. Also, Phil was normally able to keep the violent thoughts at bay by eating on a regular basis, but vampires get mad easily. And when he's mad the thoughts come back, no matter now recently he had fed. Like for instance, right now. He wanted to kill something. Not necessarily Dan, just _something_. If a fight that bad were to happen and Dan decided to actually break up with him, Phil feared that this feeling would end up being immediately taken out on Dan.

He probably wouldn't be able to stop himself after Dan, either. Countless people would die. It wouldn't even be about living anymore, just taking out all of his anger on people. So many innocent people's lives would be taken, all because of Phil's inner turmoil. It would be messy, and there would be bodies piling up rapidly.

After he had decided he was done, he'd have to leave. There would be too many people dead to continue blaming it on animal attacks. They would be too similar. Someone would notice the pattern, and he couldn't have vampires being exposed. He would leave to a new city, and the investigators would never find him. It'd just be another cold case where the crazed serial killer was never found.

Phil shook himself back into the present. He had let himself get enveloped into the thoughts of what _would_ happen, rather than thinking about how to fix what _did_ happen. He had to find a way to fix this mess he had created between him and Dan. First, though, he'd have to have a clear head. He'd have to feed, then he'd come up with something for when Dan inevitably wanted to talk to him about it again.


	3. A Sleepless Night with Phil

Phil had never been a good liar. However, it was a skill that he had to learn fairly quickly if he was going to live with Dan. The lies came easily and quickly now, and he didn't know whether to attribute that to his own skills or to being a perk of vampirism, though he suspected the latter. He had come up with quite a few excuses in the past few years. And somehow, Dan had seemed to buy them all. He may have been skeptical about some, but he never pushed it. Phil may not have liked lying when he was alive, but now he didn't really care. It was for Dan's well being after all, so it wasn't all that bad.

Along with getting better at lying, he's made sure to be even more careful. He'd have to tiptoe around Dan to make sure that he didn't suspect anything again. After the fight, he's been extra aware of how Dan is acting towards him. If he believes his lie, if he's acting moody at all, if his heart rate is accelerating when it shouldn't, anything that could suggest that he's upset at Phil for any reason. He's also being more cautious when going out at night. Making absolutely sure that Dan is asleep when he's leaving, and being as quick as possible so that when he gets back home Dan will still be asleep. He's also tried to stop leaving the bed just because he's bored laying there. He just kept his mind occupied, like he was doing right now. Sure, it was a lot of work on Phil's part, but it was worth it. He'd do anything to keep Dan at his side for as long as possible.

Phil had also started actually going outside with Dan. If he wanted to masquerade as human, he'd have to actually go into the sun once in awhile. He'd finally figured out how to be in the sun, after many trials and errors. On his own, of course. He wasn't about to have Dan see him bursting into flames the second he touched sunlight. No, he was pretty sure that wouldn't help him in hiding what he was. Dan stayed away any time Phil tried to go out like this, and eventually he found the right balance of layers of clothes and well placed accessories that he didn't look suspicious but also wasn't smoking while he was out.

Phil was sure that the truth would get out eventually. But, until then, he'd try his damndest to keep Dan from thinking anything of him as anything other than the Phil he's presented himself as. The happy-go-lucky, innocent, "literal ray of sunshine" Phil. -He'd always thought that nickname was hilarious. The irony of being a vampire called a ray of sunshine was pretty amusing to him. It's like going up to a human and saying, "Oh, morning sulfuric acid!".- As long as Dan kept thinking of him like this, then it would work out. The personality wasn't a complete charade, either. He did act like that most of the time, there was just some small differences. Like being morally distant and having a not so slight bloodlust. Yeah, sure, slight differences. He just felt was better if he didn't let those differences slip into his behaviour when he was around Dan.

Because of Phil's precautions, they were doing a lot better now. Dan had a lot of trouble trusting him after their big fight, but now he's come back around. He seems to have really come back to the level of trust they had before. Phil thought that he might even trust him _more_ than before. After all, it had only been a short while they had known each other. Dan had a bit of an explosive nature. It would take a lot to make him actually mad, but when he was mad it was terrible. He could hold a grudge like no one Phil had ever known. It was a miracle that he can trust him now, and Phil was grateful albeit a bit surprised when Dan started to talk to him again.

It was this part of Dan that had made Phil decide to avoid telling Dan the truth for as long as possible. If it took this long for Dan to trust him again over not going out with him during the day, he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like if he knew Phil was dangerous. He'd hate him for keeping this a secret or just for being what he is or because there's the possibility of Phil hurting him. Or he'd be scared of Phil. That's the worst part to him; Dan would be scared of him.

He could see it now: Dan finds out somehow. Maybe Phil tells him, maybe he finds out another way. Either way, he's looking at Phil. The same expression of fear that he sees in every one of the people he has to kill, only this time it's mixed with a bit of hurt. All trust Dan in him that may have built up through the years immediately vanishes. Only fear remains. He wonders if Phil will hurt him, though why would he if he's been living with him for that long. He wonders why it was him whose whole world had to come crashing down on. He wonders why it had to be then. He wants to get away from the monster that masqueraded as his loving boyfriend. He runs, and doesn't look back.

This one Phil hadn't put much thought into, he didn't have to. It was pretty obvious what would happen. How Dan would react. Really it's how anyone would act if they were in the same situation. One thing Phil's already learned in his time as a vampire is that no matter how different people's personalities may be, they all tend to handle fear the same way. The simple fight or flight reaction is present in every single human being. This doesn't change if the person was close to Phil or not. Humans were just predictable like that. They all think they're different but at their cores humans are all exactly the same.

Phil supposed he wasn't much different though. Even if he wasn't technically human, he still had the same personality traits as one. He supposed that included all of those responses to emotions like fear and pain as well. He hadn't really been in a situation to test that theory out, though, so there was no telling what he would do. Maybe he'd act like human Phil would, or Dan or any random person walking down the street, maybe he wouldn't. Phil wasn't exactly sure he even wanted to know.

He broke himself from his thoughts when he heard the picking up of a previously steady heart beat next to him. Dan was waking up. He didn't even notice it had gotten light outside, let alone late enough for Dan to be awake. He glanced at the clock and sure enough, it was past noon.

"Morning, babe" He said as a still half asleep Dan turned to him.

"How are you always awake before me? I don't understand."

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you wake up consistently after 12." Phil chuckled. Even when he was a human, he was always awake before Dan.

"It'd still be nice to be the first one awake at least once."

"I really doubt that's going to happen."

"Why not? It could happen." Phil gave his boyfriend a look to make Dan reflect on what he just said. "Okay yeah you're right that's probably not going to happen."

They both laughed as they got out of bed and moved into the living room for their routine of cereal and anime.


	4. How Deep Have I Been Drowning

Phil was leaving again. Dan could tell from all the shuffling coming from the living room and the blatant absence of Phil from his side in the bed. Dan was used to waking up like this now. It had happened so often that Dan's come to almost expect it. He was always leaving in the middle of the night, not even leaving a note to tell Dan that he'd gone out. Not like Dan would have been awake by the time he had gotten back. He only stays out for a few hours and comes back and lays back down with him. He never mentions where he goes, never mentions why he's leaving, or even that he left at all.

Why would he be going out this late? He had literally no reason to be going out. If he wanted to go partying and thought this was the only way, he was wrong. Dan may not be the type to go to those types of things, he didn't mind if Phil did. There's no reason not to tell him about it. He didn't even know why Phil would feel like he needed to keep it secret. They didn't really keep anything of themselves secret. No, that couldn't be it. Phil would just tell him that that's what he wanted to do. But if that wasn't it, what could it be?

Trying to figure it out, he reflected on Phil's behaviour recently. He's only noticed him leaving a few weeks ago, and any time he wakes up at night, Phil's either leaving or gone. There's only a few times that he's woken up in the middle of the night with Phil still at his side. Okay, so that's a definite red flag. He's also been acting weird. Dan's noticed that Phil's been deflecting questions. Even if they're not extremely personal, he'll try to point Dan's attention to something else or give him a cryptic answer that's not really an answer.

Dan didn't really like thinking about any of this. He didn't like the problems it presented or the fact that the possibility is even there. He hated that he had to think about this. It's why he's put off trying to find the most likely scenario until now. Now, he knew he really needed to get to the bottom of this. He _had_ to find out what Phil was doing. Maybe Dan's wishful thinking was right and he just is going to parties or something.

But if he isn't right, does Dan really want to know? Would he want to know if his boyfriend is sneaking around with someone else doing god knows what? Who is he kidding; of course he would. Dan would want to know. If Phil wasn't happy with Dan and felt the need to do that he should know. Of course, Phil had no right to cheat on him. They could have talked it out, or done something to fix the problem. In Dan's eyes, ending the relationship is better that cheating on someone. Still though, if Phil was cheating on him, he should know. That way they both could work out whatever problem they have, break-up or not. Anything would be better than this guessing Dan's having to do now.

It's not like Phil's going to admit anything if he asks, though. He'd just come up with some excuse or change the subject. Asking him was definitely not an option. So how is he going to figure out where Phil's going? He's been watching Phil closely, but it hasn't gotten him anywhere. No, the only real option he had was to follow him. He'd have to find out where he was going for himself.

Dan had been plotting all day. He may have been thinking about this all day, but his plan was still pretty shoddy. It would have to do though, because he needed to do this tonight. He's have to feign sleep, get up after Phil had gone, and hope that he could catch up to him. He didn't even know if this plan would work. What if he couldn't find Phil? What would he say if he got a bit too close and Phil noticed him? He couldn't really answer those questions, but he would figure them out if the problem did arise.

It was time to hatch his plan. He laid down with Phil as he always would, and pretended to fall asleep. He stayed like this for a long time, unaware of how much time had passed. He made sure his breath was slow and even, and Phil didn't seem to notice the difference as he slipped silently out of their bed. When he was out of the room, Dan sat up. It was time. He was actually going to do this.

As soon as he hear the front door close, he got out of bed, threw on a jacket-it was a common thing for Dan to be too lazy to actually change before going to sleep- and headed out. He made sure to be as silent as possible as he slipped out into the brisk night air. He scanned his surroundings and spotted Phil, a little ways ahead of him. He made an effort to match their strides, as to not tip Phil off to someone walking behind him. He also made sure to maintain a safe distance. He wasn't far enough behind him that he would lose him come a few abrupt turns, but he wasn't close enough where Phil would be able to hear him.

They were walking, Dan realized, away from town. _That's weird,_ Dan thought, _why would he meet someone out here?_ He shook the thought off, though. He couldn't focus on that right now. He needed to be prepared for what he'd see. He needed to focus on that, not on the why or where he was going. Whatever he was about to see Phil do, he needed to be ready for it. That was the only way to actually be able to do this. He knew if he didn't do this, he'd back out, and that wasn't an option.

He really was making it hard for someone to follow him. He kept taking unexpected turns and walking through dimly lit areas. At one point Dan couldn't see at all through the dark and had to just guess that Phil was still ahead of him. Maybe he sensed someone following him. That, or he does this every night, just to be certain. Dan couldn't be sure which one it was. Either way, Dan was surprised that he had actually been able to keep up with him this far. Well, keep up wasn't exactly the right word. Dan had fallen behind some distance, and he feared that if Phil took a few too many turns in close succession, he'd lose him.

After a while, and a few too many close calls, Phil finally stopped. He seemed to have spotted someone and he ducked into a nearby alley. _Aha,_ Dan thought, _I'll finally get you._ He headed towards the alley, still far behind Phil. He was about to catch Phil red handed. He wasn't excited about this, but his body still hummed. He was anxious. Did this really mean it was the end for them? Would there still be a Dan and Phil after this? Or would they not be able to recover from this and go their separate ways? He wasn't even sure which one he wanted at this point. Of course, he still loved Phil, but if he was cheating on him, what was the point of continuing their relationship? He doubted they could work it out, but hey, it was still possible, right?

Reminding him once again that he couldn't focus on this, he continued heading towards the alley. He forced his brain to only think of the task at hand, not the consequences. They could deal with those after Phil had been found out. As he approached the alley entrance, his anxiety worsened. He didn't know exactly what he would see, but he was sure it'd be too much for him. After all, it had been 6 years now. It had been so long, and now it was most likely coming to a close. It all depended on this moment.

Dan reached the entrance to the side alley. To Dan, it looked like the mouth of a beast that he was about to walk straight into. He was walking into death. Not his own though, the death of a relationship. The beginning of an end. He took a deep breath and went in.


End file.
